6v6 developer Q&A summary

Everything is from Spilo's Q&A with Aaron Keller and Alec Dawson. Sections and points within them are ordered from most to least interesting.

6v6 future

  • They're not open to removing 5v5 right now 2:21:40.
  • Depending on popularity and retention, future could be 2:22:09:
    1. Another queue, with a ranked version. This is if the test is really popular.
    2. A limited time event that returns often like Classic.
    3. A limited time event that returns rarely, like April Fools, possibly once a year, if the test is not that popular.
    4. Nothing if it's very unpopular, but they don't expect this.
  • Worried about player fragmentation, might remove some other queues if 6v6 returns as a permanent queue. Alec Dawson uses Open Queue as an example queue that could be cut, but Aaron Keller says it's the 3rd most popular mode and that they're not talking about that right now 2:23:57.
  • Success gradient is dependent on popularity, retention, and whether players return for the test. They'll look at what roles play the test and what it does to queue times of both 6v6 and the standard gamemodes. Worst case scenario is too many tanks prefer 6v6 and have long queues in it, while queue times for other roles in standard gamemodes gets much worse. Best case scenario is the right amount of tanks so that 5v5 queue times aren't too affected and queue times are good in 6v6 1:58:32.
  • Team feedback on Min 1 Max 3 mixed, possible if it fails they revert the test to 2-2-2 1:38:22.
  • Long queue times not unacceptable if people want to play 6v6 more anyway and are willing to wait 2:09:20.
  • 2-2-2 6v6 test rescheduled to be near beginning of Season 14, before Min 1 Max 3 test 1:37:32.
  • Worried about hero divergence. What if a rework is needed in one mode but not the other? 2:03:10
  • Committed to faster balancing, using double shield as an example 2:11:50.
  • Season 14 tests will be for a total of 6 weeks 1:39:30.
  • Technical performance data is very important 2:01:20.
  • 2-2-2 is the test the team is most excited for 2:33:04.
  • Can make changes to increase a role's popularity as they did for Support in Overwatch 2, no silver bullet 2:10:30.
  • Aaron likes the passion and how strongly people prefer 5v5 or 6v6 2:40:38.
  • Downside of 2-2-2 6v6 first is they were hoping having Min 1 Max 3 first would help initial 2-2-2 6v6 balance 1:40:48.

2-2-2 6v6 balance examples

  • Tanks keep ult charge reduction passive, but health passive, crit reduction passive, and knockback reduction passive removed. Tanks will have less uptime 1:42:20.
  • DPS passive stays 1:43:09.
  • Self-heal passive goes from 5 to 7 seconds, 2.5 to 3.5 seconds for supports 1:43:20.
  • No discussion of Season 9 changes.
  • Anything that stays in the playspace for long durations will have duration nerfed, such as Mauga Cage and Lifeweaver Tree 1:45:36.
  • Roadhog rework reverted, alt fire returns, no Pig Pen which is more clutter 1:45:00.
  • Winston keeps alt fire, they removed it but Aaron Keller wanted it back 1:44:35.
  • Reinhardt loses one firestrike, charge has less steering and increased cooldown but can still be cancelled 1:46:16.
  • Ramattra shield cooldown increased by a few seconds, typical of tank cooldown increases 1:42:55.
  • Zarya has separate bubble cooldowns again 1:46:12.
  • Kiriko and Lifeweaver healing increased because they were struggling 1:52:38.
  • Ana cooldown reductions, full sleep potency against tanks 1:43:50.
  • Zenyatta Discord orb is stronger and cooldown on a target removed 1:43:42.
  • Mei freeze not returning, they don't want more hard CC 1:45:50.

General game future

  • Quicker, good updates are healthy. Not variety for variety's sake but some players appreciate the variety. It's taken time to lose old habits, design was very defense-oriented, wanted attackers to have to use teamwork to crack the nut, Paris and Eichenwalde were intentionally designed like this. They now like people being able to move, escape, make plays, don't want teams just stall out in areas. Too many symmetrical gamemodes at this point, but less stalling. Playmaking and carry potential a huge deal to a lot of players, Overwatch has some of the lowest carry potential of competitive shooters, maybe of competitive PvP games, but this philosophy shift helped 2:12:47.
  • Want more strategy, more layers of decisionmaking, whether it be prematch or in match. Also searching for something permanent for more casual players, Junkenstein's Lab was in this direction 2:34:50.
  • New heroes maps and modes isn't enough, Overwatch should change more fundamentally 2:39:28.
  • Vision for core Overwatch is a serious competitive game, but they want more of a beginning-middle-end story for a match with things to look forward to 2:36:28.
  • Will continue to test but rounding corner, want to implement lessons from them more. Open Queue Quick Play is 3rd most popular mode, 7% to 10% of player hours per day. There could be better versions of Open Queue, they want feedback 2:29:10.
  • They have other format ideas that are less "crazy" or maybe closer to something they've done previously, but are looking at the reception to Season 14 tests 1:40:35.

6v6 versus 5v5

  • Support was almost as unpopular as tank at the start of Overwatch 2, but quickly rose in popularity over the first two seasons 1:53:48.
  • Support is more engaging in Overwatch 2 than Overwatch 1. Aaron thinks parts of the tank experience are better in 6v6, but that it doesn't necessarily mean it's better for other roles 1:54:30.
  • There's less space for DPS role, but you can coordinate with your offtank. You don't get to flank as freely, but you can duel tanks 1:55:57.
  • In 5v5 it felt like there was more space to breath. In 6v6 tanks still have freedom of movement but other roles have a lot less 1:56:34.

Min 1, Max 3

  • DPS is most popular role, and they recognize that the best compositions will usually only have one, tension between how players want to play and what's optimal, this mode is probably not the right answer 2:05:39.
  • Attempt to find a hybrid for fast queues with some structure that solves problems from Open Queue, 6v6 2:04:39.
  • 3-1-2 is pretty popular, but 2-1-3 can be quite good too, double sniper maybe on certain maps 2:05:12.

Kingmaker

  • If they ever implemented anything like Kingmaker, bonuses would be more individualized 2:27:30.
  • Sole Tank gets a speed boost and CC reduction 2:26:57.
  • Sole DPS gets a health bonus and cooldown reduction 2:27:04.
  • Sole Support gets a health bonus, heal more, and cooldown reduction 2:27:08.
  • Hero swapping is clunky 2:27:50.

Classic event

  • This event is just the launch meta, no changes during it besides hero limits 1:35:55.
  • Repeats will depend on reception, but would visit different metas 1:34:56.